Ireland make Test debut after disappointment of missing out on Cricket World Cup in 2019 As Sunday’s third day struggles showed, it will take Ireland time to adjust to the unique rhythms of Test cricket LONDON: Several of the Irish heroes of Sabina Park in 2007 never made it to Malahide, not as players anyway. Dave Langford-Smith, the New South Welshman who bowled the first ball for Ireland in a World Cup game, played his last international less than 12 months later. Andre Botha, the South African whose metronomic seam bowling was instrumental in the St. Patrick’s Day defeat of Pakistan, stretched his career as far as the 2011 World Cup. Jeremy Bray, another from New South Wales whose century helped clinch that vital first World Cup point against Zimbabwe, bowed out in 2009, while Trent Johnston, inspirational captain, fabric salesman and chicken dancer supreme in 2007, last wore the Irish cap in the final of the Intercontinental Cup in December 2013. Of that heroic side that made it to the Super Eights at the expense of Pakistan and Zimbabwe, only the O’Brien brothers, big Boyd Rankin and William Porterfield, now captain, are still playing. Eoin Morgan is too, only he wears English colors these days. Spare a thought too for Ed Joyce, so prominent in Ireland’s qualification for that 2007 World Cup. Driven by the desire to play Test cricket, Joyce switched allegiance to England in 2006 and was part of their World Cup squad in 2007. In the game between the two sides in Guyana, he shouldered arms to a Rankin delivery that flattened his off stump. As visions of a Test cap with England disappeared, Joyce went back to his roots. Now nearly 40, he finally saw his dream realized at Malahide this weekend. But nearly a decade after his prime, he lasted all of four balls in the first innings. In sport, timing is everything, and for Ireland, the timing of this inaugural Test is especially bittersweet, coming two months after they missed out on qualifying for a fourth consecutive World Cup. That ‘failure’ came with an asterisk. After having 16 teams in 2007, and 14 apiece in 2011 and 2015, cricket has gone back to the Stone Age with a ten-team World Cup for 2019. Long before Afghanistan captured hearts with their big hitting, pace bowling and skilful wrist spin, Ireland were flying the flag for the Associate sides. But with opportunities so scarce against strong opposition, the promise of 2007 has not been fully realized. Cricket boards around the world share the blame for that. It beggars belief that teams prefer to play weakened, second-rate county sides to warm up for Test series in England, instead of crossing the Irish Sea to play a full-strength national side in similar conditions. Having set the standard for the so-called lesser nations in white-ball cricket a decade ago, the Irish have seen others eclipse them as their core group of players have grown old together. Rankin, like Joyce, tried his luck with England, playing the final Test in the Ashes whitewash of 2013-14. He’s now nearly 34. Tim Murtagh, who shared the new ball, turns 37 soon. Of the XI at Malahide, only Tyrone Kane is under 25. Seven are over 32. This is not a team with its best years ahead of it. As Sunday’s third day struggles showed, it will take Ireland time to adjust to the unique rhythms of Test cricket, against bowlers and batsmen a level above those they played in the Intercontinental Cup. And the suspicion persists that without the patronage of one of the powerful cricket boards – Afghanistan seem to have that from India now – they will merely tread water like Bangladesh did for a decade. What Ireland do have, even in the inclement weather at Malahide, is incredible support. That is one thing that has not changed since that halcyon summer of 2007. “It was like there were 12 or 13 players out there,” said Johnston after that opening World Cup game against Zimbabwe. “It felt like there were 20,000 of them inside. The Irish people are quite passionate, and it was high on our agenda to win for them. There were 2,000 people in and I reckon about 1,900 of them were Irish.” As many as 5,000 turned up for Saturday’s play, and their encouragement will be most needed in the months and years ahead. But more than anything, Ireland needs some of the kids watching from the stands to fill the voids soon to be left by the generation that put Irish cricket on the map.